A plague of bed bugs reminds the citizens of Springfield that Reverend Lovejoy is sort of an ineffectual spiritual leader. He is replaced by the pop culture savvy Reverend Elijah Hooper, voiced by Edward Norton. He proves to be way more popular than Lovejoy, but he does make the questionable decision to make Homer a deacon. His plan to bring in the most disconnected member of the church works, and Homer begins spending a lot more time at church. This doesn't make either Bart or Ned Flanders very happy. Bart decides to release another biblical plague on the city - frogs. The frogs overrun the city and Rev. Hooper can't cope with the problem. But Rev. Lovejoy bores the frogs to sleep.